The jet was packed as they flew between mountains to get to their destination. The forests passed by in a blur of green as Elizabeth sat by the window in between Pietro and Rhodey. A file sat in her lap, acting as some makeshift table.

"Well?" She asked the two with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "You two pass?" She gestured to the mess of playing cards faced down on the file.

Pietro and Rhodey looked at each other carefully, unsure what to say. "You wanna call her bluff or should I?" Rhodey asked Pietro as he held his last two cards in his hands.

"No," Pietro shook his head and Elizabeth leaned back in her seat. "Why don't you do it?" He questioned Rhodey.

"Do you not see this?" Rhodey held up his only two remaining cards. "I am not risking it, you should do it." He told Pietro.

The younger one of the three groaned and slumped in his seat. "Wanda," he called out for his sister who sat beside Vision across from them. Before he could continue his sentence Wanda spoke up.

"I am not entering her mind," She told her brother and Elizabeth exclaimed a triumphant 'hah!' in Pietro's face. "Not again, not after the last time I meddled in your games." She added with a frown, remembering all the past arguments that would ensue.

"Y'know, it's not fair," Rhodey chimed in with a scowl. "You can tell if we're lying," he referred to her powers as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"She does not use her powers when playing," Wanda said and Elizabeth nodded along vigorously. "That much I can tell you."

Elizabeth scoffed when she saw Rhodey and Pietro look at each other unsurely. "Quit stalling," she said in annoyance. "Wanna call bullshit or should we just declare me as the winner?"

Rhodey cursed under his breath and threw his cards face down in his lap. "I call bullshit," he exclaimed before reaching for the cards on the file. He flipped them over to reveal that she was not in fact, bluffing with her last cards.

"No," Pietro whined as Elizabeth smirked at the two of them smugly.

"Suck it." She rubbed it in their faces as she stood up, letting the cards and file in her lap fall to the floor. "That is payback from Monopoly," she said with a grin. She left the two to gather the cards, having an unspoken rule that losers clean up for as long as she can remember.

Making her way to the front of the jet, she stood next to Steve by the pilot's seat. "Are you guys sure about this?" Sam asked the two of them from behind the controls of the jet.

They were heading straight for one of the mountains ahead, the trees becoming clearer the closer they got. "We're sure," Steve told Sam with a nod, recalling the last time they had come to visit Bucky. T'Challa giving them clear directions.

"Hey," Natasha called out to Elizabeth from the seat alongside Sam, Bruce standing beside her. "Did you win?" She asks as she nods her head back to where Rhodey and Pietro grumbled unhappily as they picked up the scattered cards.

"You bet," She answered as Natasha held her hand up for a high-five. Elizabeth reciprocated the gesture before turning to look out the window.

Sam flew them straight into the mountains and she saw him wince out of the corner of her eye, doubting their directions. But then they passed through it like water and she heard him let out a sigh of relief.

"Is this it?" Pietro's voice by her side startled her slightly. She looked to the side and saw him staring at the tall shiny buildings in awe as they flew over the clear water. The city being surrounded by tall mountains and bright green forests making it fit for a painting. As if it being named The Golden City, not being a reason on its own. Within five minutes, they had begun their descent into the Citadel.

As the jet landed on the landing pad, Steve, Natasha and Elizabeth made their way to the opening ramp of the jet. The rest of the team came up behind them as Steve spoke. "Open the doors," He announced before looking back at Sam by the controls. Sam muttered something along the lines of, 'Why don't you come back here and do it yourself,' but the doors opened nonetheless. 

As the door lowered down onto the ground below, bright light swarmed her vision as she took her first steps down beside Natasha.   The air was warm and humid, making her body heat up underneath the fabric of her suit.

From the large doors of the building before them, T'Challa emerged with the Dora Milaje by his side. The team of women looking as threatening as ever. As they approached the group, Elizabeth heard Bruce ask Rhodey something from behind her.

"Should we bow?" Bruce asked as he patted down the front of his shirt nervously.

She turned around and was met with Rhodey's amused smile. "Well duh," he told Bruce with a straight face. "He's a king."

She stifled her laugh and turned back ahead to greet T'Challa with a smile. "It seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve started as the two shook hands.

Bruce cleared his throat, catching the king's attention before bowing slightly. T'Challa looked at Bruce with a sigh before shaking his head at the gesture. "We don't do that here," he informed him as Elizabeth and Rhodey laughed quietly.

Noticing her amusement, T'Challa pointed a finger at her. "You are not one to talk," he chided with a teasing smile as he remembered the time she thanked him with a bow a few years earlier. She felt her cheeks redden and she grimaced lightly, thankful when T'Challa turned back and led them toward the building.

"So how big of an assault are we expecting?" He asked as they all trailed behind him, the Dora Milaje still by their sides.

Looking back, she saw Wanda, Vision and Pietro being led off to the other side of the building, no doubt heading towards the lab. Behind her she locked eyes with Sam, the older of the two sticking his tongue out at her.

"Um, sir? Sir?" Bruce piped up nervously as he made his way to stand beside Elizabeth. "I think you should expect quite a big assault."

"How are we looking?" Natasha asked as they neared the shade of the building, all of them no longer needing to squint under the bright sun just to see two feet in front of them.

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, The Dora Milaje." T'Challa began before sweeping his hand off to the side. "And of course,"  he trailed off and as she followed his gaze, she felt her heart leap out of her chest.

"A semi-stable hundred year old man," Bucky said with a lopsided grin her way.

"Bucky!" She exclaimed happily with a wide smile on her face. Not wanting to wait another second, she ran up to him and engulfed him in a tight hug. She felt his arm go around her waist as he pulled away.

"Hey, dollface," He looked down at her in his arms before pressing a kiss to her lips softly. They had nearly forgotten that there were other people around them, had it not been for Sam.

Sam groaned loudly and made fake gagging noises. "Enough already!" He whined causing both of them to send a glare his way.

Elizabeth pulled away from Bucky to let Steve greet his friend. "How are you, Buck?" He asked before going in for a hug and the pat on the back.

"Not too bad for the end of the world," he answered before taking her hand in his. "A lot better since you two showed up," he added lightly.

"As much as I hate to break up the reunion," Natasha began from beside where T'Challa stood patiently. "We do have somewhere to be."

"Right," Bucky said somewhat apologetically. "You guys go, I have my orders here." He said to them all.

Steve nodded before turning to Elizabeth. "You and Rhodey can stay here," he told her with a knowing smile. "Check in on the comms, alert us if anything happens." Rhodey nodded before heading back to the jet to retrieve his War Machine suit. Elizabeth, mouthed a small thank you as she put her arm around Bucky's waist.

"Right then, I'm staying too," Sam announced. "Like hell if I'm gonna let those two out of my sight," he jutted his chin toward her and Bucky. He didn't wait for a response before stalking off after Rhodey.

They all collectively shook their head at him before walking past Elizabeth and Bucky. As Natasha passed her, she bumped their shoulders together. "Yikes," she said jokingly. "Can't say you didn't try." She winked at her before catching up to the rest of the group.

Once the two were alone, save for the few passersbys, Elizabeth moved herself out of her partners arms to stand in front of him. She placed her hand on her hips dramatically as she walked around him in a circle, earning a laugh.

"You cut your hair?" She asked as she squinted her eyes at him with a tilted head. He smiled at her warmly before reaching out and pulling her towards him. "You did, didn't you?" Elizabeth locked her hands behind his neck, playing with his hair. Leaning back, she moved from side-to-side playfully, trusting that he wouldn't let her fall.

"Well I had to get all nice and dressed up for you," he retorted as he leaned in to press another kiss to her lips. "You got a problem with that?"

"I never said I was complaining," She corrected against his lips and she felt him smile. As they pulled away, he stared at her silently with a dazed look on his face.

She waited for him to say something but no words came out of his mouth. "You got something you wanna say, sergeant?" She cocked her head as she looked up at him.

"You remember that I love you, right?" He began seriously.

"Hmm, let me check my files real quick," She sarcastically said as she put on her best thinking face. He rolled his eyes at her and proceeded to shake her in his arms, making her let out a laugh. "Okay, okay! Yes, I do."

"Good," he hummed as he set her back down on her feet. "So, I think we should do it," he said eagerly.

"I think you missed something," She said in confusion at his vague statement. "Do what exactly?"

Bucky took both of her hands in his carefully as he spoke. "Get our proper home together," he stated nervously. His words brought back the conversation that she had with him all those years ago at the apartment in Bucharest. Elizabeth was at a loss for words as she looked up at him.

"We'll get a nice big house where Alpine can have her own room. We'll get a tv," he spoke the exact words that she had said to him so long ago. "We'll have everything we could ever want, what do you say?"

Elizabeth reached a hand up and pressed it to the side of his cheek, his stubble tickling the palm of her hand. "I say that we don't need all that," she told him. "You are my home, so as long as we're together that's more than enough for me."

"I know, but I just wanna build a home with you." He breathed out and as he looked into her eyes, he knew she wanted the same thing. She wanted it more than anything in the entire world. "I wanna give you the life you deserve."

"I would want nothing more than to build a home with you, James Buchanan Barnes," She sighed out and she felt herself near tears at the fact that she could finally have what she wanted. The corner of his eyes crinkled and Bucky kissed her forehead before pulling her into his chest.

"We'd have to get through this first though," Elizabeth mumbled sadly into his chest. "Gotta beat this so called 'Thanos' to a pulp."

Bucky rested his chin on her head and secured his arms around her, protecting the person he loved most in the world. "Yeah, I know." He frowned to himself. "Just one last fight," he muttered determinedly, and she hummed in agreement.

"Then we get that life," she said and she felt him nod his head above hers. "Right after we see this through."

Thank You
Hi!! I just wanted to say a big big thank you to everyone who's been reading this book and helped get it to 6k. It means the world to me and I honestly can't thank you all enough!!

All the love,
H.